Director of Communities, Westminster City Council, England

Serena is a passionate and experienced disruptive leader in the field of community engagement/development, strategy, empowerment and inclusion. She has worked with diverse and marginalised groups for over 20 years, championing their voices and addressing their needs. She has a strong track record of delivering innovative and impactful projects that tackle social issues such as anti-social behaviour, hate crime, violence against women and girls, and racial discrimination.

She is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of her/department and organisations work and has developed and implemented policies and strategies that foster a culture of respect, dignity and belonging for everyone, supporting this work across Westminster -the council and the place as well as wider in the Local government- as one of the leads under the London Councils Tackling Racial inequality group and the chair of the LC Community engagement forum. Serena is currently the Director of Communities at Westminster city council, where she oversees a range of services and initiatives that aim to enhance the quality of life and wellbeing of residents, businesses and visitors in the heart of London, particularly proud to be leading the charge around tackling the shocking life expectancy gap within Westminster by reducing inequalities. A key leader in the organisational commitment to anti-racism as well as the work to improve equity through ridding the organisation of ethnicity and gender paygaps, Serena leads with her heart on her sleeve. Serena is a keynote speaker across a national and international field and an active member of the Health led work to bring about improvement in the quality of life of patients and communities.